DTF vs Screen Printing, Embroidery and Vinyl

There are four common ways to put a design on a garment: DTF transfers, screen printing, embroidery and heat transfer vinyl. Each one has jobs it does well and jobs it does badly. Picking the right method for your order can save you money and give you a better result.

This guide compares them in plain terms, so you can match the method to what you are making.

Quick comparison

	DTF	Screen printing	Embroidery	Vinyl (HTV)
Full colour and gradients	Yes	Hard, costs more per colour	Limited by thread colours	Hard, each colour cut and layered
Setup cost	None	Screens per colour	Digitising the design	Low
Good for small runs	Yes	Not usually	Yes, once digitised	Yes, for simple designs
Good for very large runs	Yes	Yes, cheapest per unit	Slower	Slow
Fine detail	Very good	Good	Limited at small sizes	Limited by cutting
Feel	Thin layer on the fabric	Soft, can be ink into fabric	Raised stitching	Smooth layer on the fabric

DTF vs screen printing

Screen printing pushes ink through a mesh screen onto the fabric. Each colour needs its own screen, and each screen takes time to set up. Once the screens are made, printing is fast and the cost per shirt drops a lot.

Screen printing suits: large runs of the same design with only a few colours. Think 200 event tees with a one-colour logo.

DTF suits: anything with many colours, photos or gradients, and orders with lots of different designs or sizes. Because there is no setup per colour, a 10-colour design costs the same to print as a 1-colour design. You can also mix dozens of different designs on one gang sheet.

A rough rule: if you have many identical items with a simple design, get a screen printing quote. If you have variety, small quantities or full colour artwork, DTF usually wins.

DTF vs embroidery

Embroidery stitches the design into the fabric with thread. It looks and feels premium, and it lasts a very long time. It is a favourite for workwear, polos, caps and uniforms.

The trade-offs are detail and size. Thread cannot reproduce photos or tiny text well, and large embroidered areas get stiff and expensive. Before a machine can stitch your logo, the design also has to be digitised, which means converting it into a stitch file. Our guide on embroidery digitizing explains how that works.

Choose embroidery for: small logos on chests and caps where you want a stitched, professional look.

Choose DTF for: bigger prints, colourful artwork, photos and anything with fine detail.

Many brands use both: an embroidered chest logo on the front and a large DTF print on the back.

DTF vs vinyl

Heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is a coloured sheet that a cutting machine cuts into shapes. You weed away the extra vinyl and press what is left onto the garment. It is popular with hobbyists because the gear is affordable.

Vinyl works well for simple, bold, single-colour designs like names and numbers. It gets slow and fiddly with multiple colours, because each colour is cut, weeded and layered separately. Fine detail and small text are hard to weed, and gradients or photos are not really possible.

DTF does not need cutting or weeding. The printer lays down the whole design in one go, including tiny details and colour blends. For anything more complex than a one or two colour graphic, DTF is usually quicker and cleaner.

Which suits your order?

A few shirts with a full-colour design: DTF.
A team kit with names, numbers and a club logo: DTF, with all the variations on one gang sheet.
Hundreds of identical one-colour tees: screen printing is worth pricing.
Caps and polos with a small company logo: embroidery.
A single name on a hoodie, made at home: vinyl or DTF both work.
A small brand testing designs: DTF, because there are no minimums and no setup costs.

At Mocked Up we offer DTF transfers and finished garments. Our custom apparel range covers tees, hoodies and singlets, with DTF prints up to A3 and embroidery up to about 10cm. Embroidery is a +$30 add-on with a one-off $30 setup.